Up flies high above studio pack with $21m overseas haul

11 October, 2009 | By Jeremy Kay

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s Up was back on top of Hollywood’s overseas elite at the weekend thanks to an estimated $21m haul that boosted the running total to $257.1m.

The film surged past $250m and overtook Terminator Salvation to rank as the studios’ fifth biggest international release of 2009.

Active on 3,500 screens in 25 markets, Up led the way with a mighty number one debut in the UK that delivered $9.7m (£6.1m) from 550 screens in what is the biggest animated launch of the year-to-date.

The Disney/Pixar release remains potent in Germany after one month of release andranks third on $3.2m from 680 for $20.3m.

In Australia, it took Universal’s new release Couples Retreat to edge Up out of the number one slot after a magnificent five-week reign – the longest since The Dark Knight last year. Nonetheless the release added $1.8m from 365 for a memorable $20.5m and has grossed almost 70% more than the entire run of Ratatouille and more than 30% more than Wall-E.

Up launched top in Belgium and Holland on a combined $2.3m from 130 and followed up last weekend’s record debut in Denmark with a $745,000 number one hold from 70 theatres that raised the tally to $2.1m. Up touches down next weekend in Italy, Hungary, Turkey, Sweden and Poland and still has Japan to come on December 5.

Disney films grossed $36.2m overseas this weekend, making the fifth consecutive weekend the distributor has posted a combined gross over $30m.

G-Force added $7.8m from 2,575 from 21 territories for $111.4m. The family film opened top in Spain on $3.7m from 365 and added $913,000 in Australia from 279 for $6.5m after four weekends, and $885,000 in Italy for $5.3m after three. Next weekend’s debuts are France and German- speaking Europe.

Surrogates added $6m from 2700 in 27 territories for $39.1m with roughly half of the international marketplace to come including Japan, German-speaking Europe, France, Benelux, Italy and Brazil. The sci-fi thriller stayed top in South Korea on $770,000 from 355 for $3.9m, and has grossed an excellent $10.2m in Russia after three and stands at $4.6m in Spain.

Disney’s hit romantic comedy The Proposal added $1.4m from 1,762 in 21 markets for $147m and opens in Japan next weekend.

Opening day-and-date with the number one US launch, Universal/UPI’s Couples Retreat grossed $3m from solid debuts in Australia and New Zealand. The comedy opened at number one in Australia on $2.8m from 188 venues and opened third in New Zealand on $234,000 from 40. Couples Retreat opens in the UK and Russia next weekend.

The biggest launch in the franchise in Japan means Fast & Furious should cross $200m next weekend as the action thriller launched in second place on $2.9m from 322 sites behind local title Kaiji. The running total stands at $197.6m.

Inglourious Basterds crossed $150m as $8.5m from 3,170 dates in 50 territories raised the score to $154.7m. Quentin Tarantino set career-high launches in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. The wartime action release opened top in Mexico on $930,000 from 258 and top in Brazil on $930,000 from 160.

Inglourious Basterds held on to number one in its second weekend in Italy on $2.3m from 331 for $6.7m and stands at $13.1m in Spain after four, $23.4m in France, $21.5m in Germany, $17.4m in the UK, $11.3m in Australia, $6.1m in Russia, and $5.9m in the Netherlands. There are 11 territories to go including South Korea on October 29 and Japan on November 20.

The Invention Of Lying held strong in its second weekend in the UK where $1.7m from 368 sites raised the tally to $5.9m.

Local Dutch title De Storm added $610,000 from 109 venues in the Netherlands for $3.7m and was in a race with Disney’s Up for first place. The international cumulative total from the Netherlands and Belgium is $3.8m.

Fox International released the historical adventure Agora in Spain and in the process produced the biggest local title debut in Spain of the last two years with $7.3m from 470 screens.

500 Days Of Summer stands at $14m, Aliens In The Attic $31.5m, Jennifer’s Body $4.1m, and Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs $685m.

The Dolphin, an animated film produced in Peru, earned $750,000 from 453 screens in seven Latin American markets and delivered the industry’s biggest opening ever for a Peruvian film and the second highest opening weekend in Peru in 2009 behind Ice Age 3. The number one launch produced $371,000 from 100 screens.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s The Ugly Truth may have been knocked from its number one perch this weekend but the romantic comedy continues to perform well as $7.9m from 2,275 screens in 63 markets elevated the total to $81.3m.

Weekend debut highlights came from Greece, which delivered number one on $535,000 from 52, and South Africa’s number one $280,000 from 52. added $2.5m in Germany from 513 for second place and $8.5m after two, and ranks third in Brazil on $4.3m after four.

Latest data puts the film on $1.6m in first place in Austria, $1.7m in Switzerland, $945,000 in fourth place in Holland, and $1.4m and first place in Taiwan, all after two weekends. Elsewhere, The Ugly Truth has amassed $4.2m in Mexico after six, $1m in Belgium after three, and $1.3m in Venezuela after four,

The horror road movie Zombieland added $4.6m from 645 screens in six markets for an early $4.7m and opened in second place in the UK on $1.9m from 309 screens and an unconfirmed first or second in Russia on $1.4m from 330.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs added $4.6m from 1,780 screens in 32 markets for $28.5m and the animated family released launched top in Venezuela on $385,000 from 62. Elsewhere it added $1.3m in Brazil from 250 to rank second on $3m after two, and stands at $8.7m in the UK after four. Poland has amassed $1.5m and Mexico $5.7m after four.

District 9 stands at $69.5m through all distributors following a $3.1m weekend that delivered a number five launch in Holland on $275,000 from 47. The sci-fi action release has taken $14m in the UK after six weekends, $2.4m in Italy after three, $6.9m in Spain after five, and $4.7m in Germany after five.

Julie & Julia added $2.5m for $12.3m and the drama launched in fourth place in Australia on $1.7m from 285 screens. The UK tally is $4.1m after five.

Warner Bros Pictures International’s (WBPI) horror release The Final Destination grossed $3.3m from 1,952 screens in 46 markets for $95.6m through WBPI and New Line International distributors.

No news on Halloween II in the UK.

I'm expecting about $300,000-$350,000.

If there were ever a movie that shouldn't end up making as much as $190 million around the world, it is "The Final Destination," a homely horror thriller that is the third, and least-loved sequel in New Line's low-budget "Final Destination" horror franchise. The first three movies, released from 2000 to 2006, were modest successes, each one earning around $50 million in the U.S., and only slightly more overseas. It's a sign of the franchise's below-the-radar consistency that "FD3," released in 2006, had virtually the same exact box-office numbers as the original film, earning $54 million domestically and $58.7 million overseas.

So how on earth did the fourth film in the series, released on Aug.28th -- an end-of-the-summer weekend that is normally a dumping ground for studio dregs -- end up breaking all the "FD" franchise records, making $65.8 million domestically and $95.7 million overseas, with Warner Bros. predicting it will eventually do close to $125 million in the international market? (The film still hasn't opened in Japan, Australia, Italy or Spain.)

It certainly isn't because "Final Destination" was a better movie than its predecessors, since it earned a lowly 28 at Rotten Tomatoes, making it the worst-reviewed installment in the series. The reason for "The Final Destination's" success is simple, says New Line chief Toby Emmerich. It was in 3-D. "These days, instead of asking myself what movies am I making in 3-D, I'm asking what movies am I actually not making in 3-D," says Emmerich. "All the numbers we've seen have pointed to the fact that 3-D played a huge role in numbers we got for 'Final Destination.'"

After the third movie in the series was released in 2006, Emmerich was ready to put the franchise to bed. "I really thought 'Final Destination' was dead as a franchise, but when we saw how well 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' did in 3-D, we thought we could justify doing another installment of 'Final Destination,' " he said. "It obviously really paid off." The movie also benefited from WB's overseas marketing clout, which New Line never had until it was brought into the Warners fold.

Emmerich says New Line is now also planning a 3-D sequel for its "Friday the 13th" series which could be released as early as next summer, with August 13, 2010 (when Friday falls on the 13th) as a likely date. Like everyone else in Hollywood, he is eagerly anticipating the arrival of Jim Cameron's "Avatar," which should set a new benchmark for 3-D creativity and audience interest.

When I asked Emmerich if New Line could envision making a "Final Destination 5," he laughed. "Trust me," he said. "[Warners chief] Alan Horn just asked me the same question. 3-D is obviously making us look at a lot of our movie production decisions in a different way."

The next film will inevitably go down in gross, though. Many were disappointed by this one.

The 3D can only help this much if interest simply isn't there.

Can Up hit 850m WW?

Looks like a number of films are beating their US gross.
I hope Cloudy will but it won't just like every non-Pixar, non-sequel animated movie overseas.
Surrogates may pass 100m WW. Still pathetic.